Of the 30,000 apple varieties found all over the world only 30 are used and traded commercially

Apple varieties in the EU, 2007 (based on Eurostat)

Apples are the third most important fruit worldwide and their production has a long history.

As early as 2,500 years ago the Romans cultivated six different apple varieties. One estimates that today more than 30,000 apple varieties exist in the world. However, after the Second World War the diversity of the used varieties reduced tremendously. In order to cut labour costs and to produce apples more efficient, plantations replaced single tall trees, fostering a more intensive production of only a few varieties. As a consequence, at the moment globally only between 20 and 40 varieties are produced and commercially traded.

Only 13 apple varieties covered nearly 72 % of the entire European apple acreage in 2007. Golden Delicious had the biggest share of 16.3 % and was mainly grown in Italy, Spain and France. Jonagold was cultivated on 9.7 % of the area, mainly in Germany and Poland; Gala on 8.6 % of the area, mainly in France, Italy and Spain.

Some varieties are grown almost only in one single country, among them are: Champion (in Poland 13 %), Elstar (in Germany 21 %), Gloster (in Poland 6 %), Idared (in Poland 21 %), Jonagored (in Germany 9 %) and Red Delicious (in Italy 12.5 %).

New varieties such as Fuji, bred in Japan, and Pink Lady (in New Zealand and Australia), a club variety bred in the 1970s, are becoming more popular in Europe. However, Pink Lady was not yet included in the variety list of the European survey in 2007.

In the newly established agri benchmark Apple Network, we analysed the production systems and their economics in four important countries: Germany, Italy, Chile and South Africa.The current sample of typical farms covers 15 apple varieties; 10 of them among those mentioned in the figure above, whereas five are younger or more local varieties.

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